Our next trip was to Cusco which we had planned a long time ago because Taca Airlies came out with an incredible sale on flights. So, in February we planned this trip to the Sacred Valley and Cusco, and Ollantaytambo. Most people associate Cusco with Macchu Picchu, but we had been there 10 years ago, it has gotten very, very expensive and very crowded so we decided to concentrate on many of the other lovely things in the area.
First of all, David decided to surprise me and book us into the Hotel Frankenstein (complete with a large cut-out of him) outside,
but when we got to our room we realized this was a backpackers hotel and we had really stayed in the much nicer hotel on the second floor. So, we had a good laugh and enjoyed ourselves, sort of. The city itself an interesting mix of Inca and Spanish. We spent the day wandering about the town, looking for a piece of fabric art, which we didn't find.
Then we visited the ruins of Saccsay (pronounced ) which was an Inca fortress where the only defeat of the Spanish took place. However, it was short lived and the Spanish, as we know, won the war and the fortress remained unfinished, but impressive nevertheless.
(Yes, the hair is really orange...a bit of a mistake which was to make up for a previous mistake when I died my hair jet black!)
This is a view of the town from the ruins.
This was a rather inappropriate addition to the runs...
That night we sent to sleep, which was interrupted every 45 minutes by David's mad dash to the bathroom for a session hanging over the toilet. What a mess. The next day we were to go to two markets, the giant one in Pisac and the smaller one in Chincerra, but we only made it to Chinchera
because David was so tired. But we bought this wonderful collage hanging made by the lovely woman in the photo. We made a stop in a place where weaving and spinning were being demonstrated, and although I can spin with a wheel and one type of spindle, clearly I needed help with a different kind of spindle.
So, it was then on to Ollantaytambo where David went to bed and I went to my first taste of the three day festival celebrating their saint's day.
David had recovered by 4:00 pm and we went off to the bullfights which was a bit of a mistake...
So far, so good. We had seen this action before an quite enjoyed it. We got a little worried here
and left after this
Our first and last correa de torro. But the festival was wonderful!
Even David got into the act when they claimed he had an illegitimate child and would not take it away!
We could not stop looking at the people
This was a truly local festival and all the performers were local and, of course, the whole town watched and danced! As wonderful as the festival was, and it was hard to pull ourselves away, we planned to visit the ruins the next day. That night it was my turn in the bathroom, so we got a slow start in the morning, but drugs are wonderful and I was all fixed up by late morning. First of all, the town itself, is a living example of Inca architecture, riddle with active irrigation canals and many of the original Inca buildigs lived in to this day!
The ruins loom above the city on both sides of the river. On this visit we visited the more accessible ones, but still a steep climb up and up the terraces to the temple at the top.
. These are the ruins we hope to visit on the next visit.
Notice the face of the old man to the left of the runs in the second photo! We met a man who knew a local artist and we visited his home and studio in a former Inca palace and bought this wonderful pot made in the old style.
. A wonderful trip and a wonderful place that needs another visit!
but was in the midst of renovations, which unfortunately did not seem to include hooking up the electricity to the lights in our room. 
The first sign says "Take care of me because I give you air (Loosely translated) and the second says "My leaves give you air." Quite ecologically-minded! But David rescued the night by filching a pole lamp from the common room and bringing it to our room because, with no windows, and only an opaque front door, we would have been quite in the dark! On Saturday we hiked up and and over; up and over the mountains to the waterfalls. 
The walk was great 
but the waterfalls was weird; black water sort of spitting from high up in the rocks. 
Maybe during the rainy season it flows stronger. 
We went back to our room and promptly fell asleep, having walked a little over 10 miles! However, the last two kilometers were the funniest because a small bus full of kids and some parents stopped to pick us up and everyone was so jolly and kept laughing and shouting "Hello", even when the bus went way too quickly around the corner and David fell and squished one of the teens! The next day we soaked in the rather cool (76 degrees) thermal pools which did make us feel great! and then walked down to the little plaza and found a man training his cocks to fight! What next! Luckily, both lived to train another day.
On the way back we came across this poor excuse for a llama...with purple tights! 
Believe it or not, these flowers, planted on a border at the hotel are quite real! 
The town has several indoor thermal pools, the hotel has two and then there is a public pool. And now I am all caught up with our travels!!!!
